Aidan Thornton

For Aidan Thornton, who graduated from Wharton this past May, engagement in policy research proved truly transformative, helping to shape his entire educational experience at Penn and giving stronger direction to his burgeoning career in the private sector.

Like most undergraduates, Aidan arrived at Penn without a clear sense of what exactly he wanted to study, but excited to explore the breadth of what the University had to offer. “My intellectual and academic interests have always reached across disciplines,” Aidan tells us, “and I found that this drove me to adopt a multidisciplinary approach in structuring my academic work at Penn.” In determining how to spend the summer after his freshman year, Aidan was referred to the Wharton Summer Program for Undergraduate Research (SPUR), which led him to a position with Professor Susan Wachter. This was fortuitous indeed, for as Aidan recounts, “working with and learning from Professor Wachter became the most memorable and rewarding element of my undergraduate academic experience.” After spending the summer working under her guidance on a self-designed research project, Professor Wachter invited Aidan to join her as a Research Assistant—a position he maintained for the rest of his undergraduate years and that allowed him to grow immensely as a student of real estate economics and policy.

The opportunity to work with Professor Wachter allowed Aidan to delve more deeply into real estate finance topics than he would have been able to do just in the classroom. Aidan really maximized that opportunity, and recently earned the distinction of having his research published. His article, titled “Macroprudential Policy and Non-Bank Finance: Implications for Commercial Real Estate Credit,” has been included in recent issues of the Columbia Economics Review and Berkeley Economic Review, and Aidan also presented it at the Issues in Political Economy 24th Annual Conference in New York. His work found that the implementation of macroprudential policy measures, particularly the capital regulation established in Basel III as a response to the Great Recession, may serve to disincentivize traditional banking institutions from providing liquidity to the commercial real estate debt market—a gap that will prove attractive to more flexible, non-bank financial institutions, such as private equity firms and hedge funds. The research has clear practical applications with respect to public policy, as such a shift in the composition of institutions providing liquidity to the commercial real estate sector would carry significant policy implications within the context of systemic risk management.

Aidan’s research experience also had a strong impact on shaping his plans for after graduation; he found it gave him a leg up when he started looking for work in the private sector. “During interviews with potential employers, it quickly became clear that my understanding of certain issues in the real estate finance realm were far deeper and comprehensive than the general understanding that would have been imparted from a lecture or a textbook,” Aidan recounts. “Additionally, I think that pursuing research has provided an opportunity to be continually engaged with the newest developments in my field – an incredibly useful advantage in the private sector.”

While at Wharton, Aidan extended his passion for research by serving as a member for the Wharton Undergraduate Research Board, a group that works to further opportunities for Wharton undergraduates to engage in research. During his tenure, the board produced a white paper outlining the state of undergraduate research at Wharton, as well as sponsored events and programs for undergraduates to pursue research. “I feel that a vast majority of Wharton undergraduates think that pursuing research is only useful to those seeking to pursue a career in academia or public policy. However, I’ve found that many of the students who have participated in research go on to leverage the knowledge gained from those experiences to be incredibly successful in the private sector.”

Aidan graduated in May 2017, and will be beginning his post-Wharton career at EY (formerly Ernst & Young). Beginning in September, he will join EY’s Transaction Advisory Services practice, working as a member of the Transaction Real Estate group, advising clients on the optimal strategy for transacting and managing real estate assets. While he hopes to continue engaging in research throughout his career, Aidan was attracted to the opportunity to apply the knowledge he’s gained through research and coursework in a practical setting. Through his position, Aidan hopes to build a knowledge of real estate and financial markets by understanding how firms derive value from real estate assets at a highly focused level. “On the long-term basis,” Aidan states, “I’d like to apply my multidisciplinary approach to real estate finance in an investment context, particularly by focusing on the international real estate debt markets.” The future possibilities are tremendous—and are a testament to the power of where research can lead.

Last modified on Jun. 30th at 3:42pm by Lisa Marie Patzer.

Wharton graduate Aidan Thornton

School and Class Year

W’17

Pull Quote

“During interviews with potential employers, it quickly became clear that my understanding of certain issues in the real estate finance realm were far deeper and comprehensive than the general understanding that would have been imparted from a lecture or a textbook. Additionally, I think that pursuing research has provided an opportunity to be continually engaged with the newest developments in my field – an incredibly useful advantage in the private sector.”

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<h3>The Penn World Table</h3><p> The Penn World Table provides purchasing power parity and national income accounts converted to international prices for 189 countries/territories for some or all of the years 1950-2010.</p><p><a href="https://pwt.sas.upenn.edu/php_site/pwt71/pwt71_form.php" target="_blank">Quick link.</a> </p><p>See all <a href="/data-resources/">data and resources</a> »</p>

<h3>Federal Reserve Economic Data (FRED®)</h3><p><strong><img width="180" height="79" alt="" src="/live/image/gid/4/width/180/height/79/481_fred-logo.rev.1407788243.jpg" class="lw_image lw_image481 lw_align_right" data-max-w="222" data-max-h="97"/>An online database consisting of more than 72,000 economic data time series from 54 national, international, public, and private sources.</strong> FRED®, created and maintained by Research Department at the Federal Reserve Bank of St. Louis, goes far beyond simply providing data: It combines data with a powerful mix of tools that help the user understand, interact with, display, and disseminate the data.</p><p> Quick link to data page: <a href="http://research.stlouisfed.org/fred2/tags/series" target="_blank">http://research.stlouisfed.org/fred2/tags/series</a></p><p>See all <a href="/data-resources/">data and resources</a> »</p>

<h3>Congressional Budget Office</h3><p><img width="180" height="180" alt="" src="/live/image/gid/4/width/180/height/180/380_cbo-logo.rev.1406822035.jpg" class="lw_image lw_image380 lw_align_right" data-max-w="180" data-max-h="180"/>Since its founding in 1974, the Congressional Budget Office (CBO) has produced independent analyses of budgetary and economic issues to support the Congressional budget process.</p><p> The agency is strictly nonpartisan and conducts objective, impartial analysis, which is evident in each of the dozens of reports and hundreds of cost estimates that its economists and policy analysts produce each year. CBO does not make policy recommendations, and each report and cost estimate discloses the agency’s assumptions and methodologies. <strong>CBO provides budgetary and economic information in a variety of ways and at various points in the legislative process.</strong> Products include baseline budget projections and economic forecasts, analysis of the President’s budget, cost estimates, analysis of federal mandates, working papers, and more.</p><p> Quick link to Products page: <a href="http://www.cbo.gov/about/our-products" target="_blank">http://www.cbo.gov/about/our-products</a></p><p> Quick link to Topics: <a href="http://www.cbo.gov/topics" target="_blank">http://www.cbo.gov/topics</a></p><p>See all <a href="/data-resources/">data and resources</a> »</p>

<h3>National Bureau of Economic Research (Public Use Data Archive)</h3><p><img width="180" height="43" alt="" src="/live/image/gid/4/width/180/height/43/478_nber.rev.1407530465.jpg" class="lw_image lw_image478 lw_align_right" data-max-w="329" data-max-h="79"/>Founded in 1920, the <strong>National Bureau of Economic Research</strong> is a private, nonprofit, nonpartisan research organization dedicated to promoting a greater understanding of how the economy works. The NBER is committed to undertaking and disseminating unbiased economic research among public policymakers, business professionals, and the academic community.</p><p> Quick Link to <strong>Public Use Data Archive</strong>: <a href="http://www.nber.org/data/" target="_blank">http://www.nber.org/data/</a></p><p>See all <a href="/data-resources/">data and resources</a> »</p>

<h3>Internal Revenue Service: Tax Statistics</h3><p><img width="155" height="200" alt="" src="/live/image/gid/4/width/155/height/200/486_irs_logo.rev.1407789424.jpg" class="lw_image lw_image486 lw_align_left" srcset="/live/image/scale/2x/gid/4/width/155/height/200/486_irs_logo.rev.1407789424.jpg 2x" data-max-w="463" data-max-h="596"/>Find statistics on business tax, individual tax, charitable and exempt organizations, IRS operations and budget, and income (SOI), as well as statistics by form, products, publications, papers, and other IRS data.</p><p> Quick link to <strong>Tax Statistics, where you will find a wide range of tables, articles, and data</strong> that describe and measure elements of the U.S. tax system: <a href="http://www.irs.gov/uac/Tax-Stats-2" target="_blank">http://www.irs.gov/uac/Tax-Stats-2</a></p><p>See all <a href="/data-resources/">data and resources</a> »</p>

<h3>National Center for Education Statistics</h3><p><strong><img width="400" height="80" alt="" src="/live/image/gid/4/width/400/height/80/479_nces.rev.1407787656.jpg" class="lw_image lw_image479 lw_align_right" data-max-w="400" data-max-h="80"/>The National Center for Education Statistics (NCES) is the primary federal entity for collecting and analyzing data related to education in the U.S. and other nations.</strong> NCES is located within the U.S. Department of Education and the Institute of Education Sciences. NCES has an extensive Statistical Standards Program that consults and advises on methodological and statistical aspects involved in the design, collection, and analysis of data collections in the Center. To learn more about the NCES, <a href="http://nces.ed.gov/about/" target="_blank">click here</a>.</p><p> ﻿Quick link to NCES Data Tools: <a href="http://nces.ed.gov/datatools/index.asp?DataToolSectionID=4" target="_blank">http://nces.ed.gov/datatools/index.asp?DataToolSectionID=4</a></p><p> Quick link to Quick Tables and Figures: <a href="http://nces.ed.gov/quicktables/" target="_blank">http://nces.ed.gov/quicktables/</a></p><p> Quick link to NCES Fast Facts (Note: The primary purpose of the Fast Facts website is to provide users with concise information on a range of educational issues, from early childhood to adult learning.): <a href="http://nces.ed.gov/fastfacts/" target="_blank">http://nces.ed.gov/fastfacts/#</a></p><p>See all <a href="/data-resources/">data and resources</a> »</p>